AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Her soft brown eyes gleamed. "I've never been to New England. I think I'd like to see it." Kade's grin burst across his face. "I'll show you the whole damn world if you'll let me." They kissed, interrupted a moment later by Kir's slightly awkward clearing of his throat. Alex was blushing furiously. Kade felt no embarrassment for his affection, meeting his father's amused look with an unapologetic quirk of his brows.
Kir smiled, then strode to the door, Kade and Alex walking at his side. When they paused at the threshold, Kade held out his hand, but his father didn't take it. Instead, he pulled Kade into a firm embrace.
"I know that you have made a family in Boston with the Order," he said as he drew back to meet Kade's eyes. "I'm glad for you. But you have a family here, as well. You and your beautiful Alexandra both have family here."
"May I hug you, too?" Alex asked, turning her warmth on Kade's gruff father. Kir's mouth curved into a rare smile. "I would be honored if you did." As Alex embraced him, the elder male glanced at Kade, his gaze filled with too many emotions for Kade to name. Pride, forgiveness, regret, hope ... years of emotions that went unspoken between father and son. Maybe now they would have the chance to repair the things that had been buried under so many secrets, so many useless fears.
And then there was Alexandra.
Kade looked at the female he loved--his female, his mate. His heart overflowed with all the things he wanted to say to her, things he wanted to share with her ... promises he intended to give her now, in the hope that he would have the rest of his life with her to make good on them.
Kade wrapped his arm around Alex's shoulders as they stood together and watched his father stroll across the moonlit snow toward the main house. When he was gone, Kade turned to Alex and swept her up into his arms.
She gasped as her feet left the ground, then laughed as he pivoted around and started walking with her toward his bedroom. "Put me down! You're hardly recovered from your burns, Kade. You really shouldn't be doing this."
"Oh, yes, I should," he replied, gazing into her eyes with a hunger he wouldn't have been able to mask even if he'd tried.
They made love together, at first a tempestuous, fevered joining, both of them lost to the swell of their emotions and to the urgent demands of their desire for each other. Kade ravished her body, made her climax so many times she finally gave up trying to keep count.
Alex's senses were filled with him, her body thrumming as she came down from the crest of another wave of pleasure, nestled in the protective shelter of Kade's arms.
She loved him so deeply she ached with her devotion. And in the afterglow of their passion, she knew that he loved her, too.
His touch was tender as he stroked the sensitive skin of her neck, his fingers skating like velvet beneath her ear. "I haven't done right by you," he murmured quietly. "When I drank from you that first night at your house in Harmony. It should have been your choice, Alex. I took that from you. I should have told you what it meant before I bonded myself to you. I should have had honor enough to earn the right, not steal it the way I did."
"It doesn't matter to me," she murmured. "All that matters is that we are together now. I want you forever, Kade. I want ..." The words trailed off, not out of fear or uncertainty, but out of the depth of her longing. She turned her head to look at him. "All I want is you, to be bonded to you as your mate."
"And all I want is to make you happy, and to know that you are safe and protected."
"I am. There's nowhere I could be happier--or more secure--than here in your arms." She caressed his handsome face, seeing the torment that still lingered in his expression. The measure of self-doubt that hadn't quite faded from his eyes, and might never fully disappear. "Together we are strong, Kade. Stronger than the wildness inside you. You heard what your father said: Love is the greatest strength. Nothing is more powerful than that."
"You really believe that?"
"More than anything," she replied. "But the question is, do you?" He stared at her for a long moment, his silver eyes searching. "So long as I have you beside me, I can believe that anything is possible. I love you, Alexandra. You are everything to me." He brought her closer and kissed her--the most tender, reverent kiss she had ever known. Alex melted into him, her body responding in a fluid rush of warmth that pooled in her core. She tipped her head back as his mouth traveled down the line of her jaw, to the side of her throat.>"I didn't mean to wake you," he murmured as they stood together as one under the starlit sky and watched the aurora dance in the distance. "You've been through a lot the past few days. You should rest some more."
Alex moved around to the front of him and burrowed into his warmth. "I came out here to tell you the same thing. How do you feel?"
He grunted, gave a brief nod. "Better, thanks to you. And all the more so when I have you in my arms."
She lifted her head to meet his gentle kiss. The brush of her lips was warm, inviting. Filled with tenderness for all they'd been through, and ripe with a tentative hope for what may still lay ahead for them.
"I needed you today, Alexandra," he whispered against her mouth. "I tried to convince myself that I didn't, but you are all that I need. Thank you for everything you did for me today. Thank you just for being here."
She smiled up at him, her voice soft with emotion. "You never need to thank me for that."
"God, I love you," he murmured, his chest tightening as he gazed down at her. "You honor me, Alex. You humble me. I don't think you realize how much. You could have any male you choose--" She reached up to caress his cheek with aching sweetness. "There is only one male I would choose. Only one male I could ever love."
His words perished on a low moan as he bent his head to hers and caught her mouth in a deep, passionate kiss. Need surged within him, hot and demanding. He wanted Alex--wanted her in his bed, passionate kiss. Need surged within him, hot and demanding. He wanted Alex--wanted her in his bed, beneath his fangs. He wanted her in every way he could have her.
So total was his desire, he hardly heard the rapid knock that fell against the front door of his cabin. He would have ignored it completely if Alex hadn't drawn back, breathless. "Someone's here."
"I don't care." Kade moved to kiss her again.
The knock came again, louder now. Insistent and demanding.
Kade snarled a curse as he caressed her beautiful face, then withdrew to stalk toward the door. He knew who he'd find on the other side, even before he opened it.
"Father," he said, his clipped tone hardly able to be interpreted as a greeting. Kir stared at him, then glanced past Kade's shoulder to where Alex had drifted in from the back porch. "We need to talk."
